Device for use in reducing the chin and for lifting the contour of the face



W. B. KIRBY DEVICE FOR USE IN REDUCING THE CHIN AND FOR LIFTING THE CONTOUR OF THE FACE Fl 6. F b 9 1953 Oct. 19, 1954 i tliLL P I M f M ATTW/Vflfi Patented Oct. 19, 1954 DEVICE FOR USE IN REDUCING THE CHIN AND FOR LIFTING THE CONTOUR OF THE FACE Wayne B. Kirby, San Francisco, Calif.

Application February 9, 1953, Serial No. 335,885

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for use in removing excess fatty tissue from the chin, particularly below the chin and for lifting the contour of the face or elevating dropping facial tissue.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a simple, manually manipulatable pair of rollers so shaped and so arranged relative to each other, particularly with respect to their axes of rotation, that they may be simultaneously rolled along opposite sides of the chin line from the point of the chin to the ears, to simultaneously effect a reduction of the accumulated surplus fatty tissue below the chin and lower jaw, and a lifting of the tissue above the chin line as well as a forcing of such tissue and the skin in a direction away from the corners of the mouth.

The words chin line as herein used refers to the line of the lower edge of the lower jaw, and which line extends from below the ears to the point of the chin.

It is recognized that attempts have heretofore been made to reduce and to remove the so-called double chin, or one in which there is an accumulation of fatty tissue below the chin. Rubber rollers or the like have been employed for that purpose and while the use of such rollers has been found to be helpful, it has also been discovered that the facial tissue would droop as a result, thus creating a new problem, and attempts to rectify this newly created problem by merely rolling a roller over the facial tissue not only does not solve the difficulty, but in many instances, actually increases it.

By the present invention, rollers are provided and are arranged relative to each other so as to not only reduce and in many cases completely remove the objectionable fatty tissue below the chin, but at the same time, to cause the tissue to be moved upwardly and away from the chin line and from the corners of the mouth. The simultaneous treatment of the tissue above and below the chin line in the manner described, is important to the accomplishment of the desired result.

The phrase lifting the contour of the face is intended to mean a lifting of the facial tissue in much the same manner as would be accomplished by massaging the facial tissue upwardly and laterally away from the corners of the mouth by the use of the fingers of the hands. Such operation is usually performed by a professional operator and is separate from a chin reducing operation.

Anyone can easily, quickly, and effectively accomplish the chin reducing and contour lifting operations at the same time by the present invention and without requiring the services of an operator.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. l is an elevational view of the present device in actual size, with one of the rollers partially broken away to clearly show the structure.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the face of a person with the device of Fig. 1 shown in use.

Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the head of a person illustrating the positions of the device during a movement thereof from the chin to the ear on one side of the face, the positions being reversed when the device is used on the other side of the face.

In detail, the invention as illustrated in the drawings comprises a handle, generally designated i, which handle may be a substantially U shaped rod of metal or of any other suitable material, providing elongated spaced legs 2, 3 in side by side relation, and which legs are adapted to be grasped by the hand t of a person, as seen in Fig. 3.

The end portions of legs 2, 3 are bent to extend divergently outwardly relative to each other, and these end portions may be called shafts 5 and E inasmuch as they function as shafts for rotatably supporting rollers i, 8 thereon with metal bushings or sleeves 9 in said rollers providing bearing surfaces.

As best seen in Fig. 1, the axis XX is the axis of rotation of roller 1, and is also the central axis of shaft 5 and of roller "i, while axis Y--Y is the axis of rotation of the roller 8, and is also the central axis of shaft 6 and of roller 8.

The axis of rotation of roller "i, namely; axis X--X intersects the axis Y-Y at a point intermediate the ends of shaft 6 and within roller 8, and also, the roller 8 is closer to the closed end of handle I than is the roller 1.

The angle between the axes X-X and Y-Y is between 30 and 40 degrees, preferably about 35 degrees, and the re-entrant angle defined by these intersecting axes is directed generally away from the handle I.

Rollers i, 8 are preferably of the same size, shape and structure, each having a row of ribs it encircling the same with the ribs of each row extending generall longitudinally of the axis of each roller. The ribs on roller 1 are spaced from the ribs on roller 8 a sufficient distance to engage the skin at opposite sides of the line of the chin when the roller 7 is positioned below the chin 3 with roller 8 above it, as seen in Fig. 3 and when the handle I is generally in alignment with said line as seen in Fig. 4 rather than extending perpendicular thereto.

It is important that the ribs in, at least, be of relatively soft material having the characteristics of rubber, the resiliency being about that of the tread rubber on tires, although it may be softer. Obviously each entire roller (exclusive of the bushing 9) may be made of rubber or of other suitable plastic composition material, and this is the preferred structure.

Said ribs it are of cylindrical contour on their radially outwardly facing surfaces (relative to the roller axis) and their ends I i (Fig. 1) are rounded and exposed. While the ribs may be straight from end to end, they may be slightly slanted longitudinally thereof at opposite sides of a me-- dial line [2 (Fig. 1), such slant being indicated by lines 13 that extend oppositely from line l2. These ribs may be about an inch in length, and where, as seen in Fig. 1, the body of each roller is vertically spherical and of a diameter of about two inches, but preferably about one and three quarters inches, with a row 16 of ribs encircling the body and coaxial with its axis, the body will project only a relatively small distance from each side of each row of ribs ill.

The actual and preferred spacing between rollers 1, 8 is substantially less than the diameter of either roller axially thereof, and is about the length of a rib It. With this spacing, the ribs on roller 8 will engage the face of a person (Fig. 3) above the line i6 of the chin, and the ribs of roller I will engage the underside of the chin along said line.

With the shaft 5, or axis X-X extending about normal to leg 2 and with shaft 6 or axis YY extending at about 35 degrees to the axis of shaft 5, as already described, the roller 1 will press against the underside of the chin and will roll the tissue generally along or parallel with said line IS in moving the rollers l, 8 along said line from the point of the chin toward either ear. There is substantially no frictional resistance between this roller I and the skin in such an opera-- tion when the handle I is in the positions indicated in Fig. 4 during said movement, but with roller 8, there is a frictional resistance between the ribs and the skin during said rolling, and this resistance is such as to push the tissue of the face upwardly as indicated by arrow 29 (Fig. 3) and also away from the corners of the mouth as indicated by arrow 2 I. The simultaneous action of the two rollers reduces the jowls, under-chin tissue and lifts the face as well as materially decreasing the undesirable lines in the face resulting from drooping tissue.

The goose-neck bend joining shaft 6 with leg 3 provides a thrust bearing for the roller 8. Cap nuts 26 may be threadedly secured to the ends of shafts 5, 6 to secure the rollers on the shafts and to provide for replacement of the rollers.

By forming the handle in the manner described, the rollers may yieldably spring apart slightly under increased pressure or a pressure of the hand may draw them closer together, according to the desires of the user.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is not to be considered as being necessarily restrictive of the scope of the claims, but merely illustrative of the preferred form of the invention. It is obvious that benefits similar to those obtained by the present structure might be obtained by supporting the shafts 5, 6 on a single one piece handle and the rollers could be supported between the arms of yokes or clevises without the rotatable shafts, and projections differing from ribs could be used. However, in each instance the axes of rotation of the rollers should be as illustrated, and a handle should be provided that rotatably supports the rollers in their desired relationship.

The fact that the ribs ID are exposed at their ends principally means that the ribs are set out from the body of each roller so that they make effective contact with the skin and the ends of the ribs on the roller 3 will push against the facial tissue.

I claim:

1. A device for use in reducing the chin and lifting the contour of the face comprising: a handle, a pair of rollers rotatably carried by said handle for rotation about their axes respectively, the axis of rotation of one roller of said pair intersecting the axis of rotation of the other roller at a point within the latter and said rollers being spaced apart a distance substantially less than th maximum diameter of either of said rollers taken in a direction normal to the axis of rotation of either.

2. A device for use in reducing the chin and lifting the contour of the face comprising: a handle, a pair of rollers rotatably carried by said handle for rotation about their axes respectively, the axis of rotation of one roller of said pair intersecting the axis of rotation of the other roller at a point within the latter and said rollers being spaced apart a distance substantially less than the maximum diameter of either of said rollers taken in a direction normal to the axis of rotation of either, said rollers being of the same size and shape, and each including a row of ribs extending therearound and formed on their peripheral outer sides with the ribs of each row having rounded exposed ends and extending longitudinally of the axis of the roller carrying the same.

3. A device for use in reducing the chin and lifting thev contour of the face comprising: a handle, a pair of shafts at one end of said handle extending divergently relative to each other in direction away from said handle with the axis of one shaft of said pair being intercepted by the axis of the other shaft at an angle of between 30, and 40 degrees, the one shaft having its axis so intercepted being closer to the end of the handle opposite said one end than the other shaft, a roller having the characteristics of relatively soft rubber rotatably supported on each shaft of said pair, each roller having a ribbed outer peripheral surface with the ribs extending general ly longitudinally of the axis of rotation of each roller and said rollers being spaced apart a su1h cient distance for their ribbed outer surfaces to engage the skin at opposite sides of the line of the chin for rolling of said rollers over the face and underside of the chin along said line.

i. A device for use in reducing the chin and lifting the contour of the face comprising: a handle, a pair of shafts at one end of said handle extending divergently relative to each other in direction away from said handle with the axis of one shaft of said pair being intercepted by the axis of the other shaft at an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees, the one shaft having its axis so intercepted being closer to the end of the handle opposite said one end than the other shaft, a roller having the characteristics. ofreltively soft. rubber rotatablysupported on each shaft of said pair, each roller having a ribbed outer peripheral surface with the ribs extending generally longitudinally of the axis of rotation of each roller and said rollers being spaced apart a suiiicient distance for their ribbed outer surfaces to engage the skin at opposite sides of the line of the chin for rolling of said rollers over the face and underside of the chin along said line, said handle being elongated and of gen erally U-shape providing a pair of legs to be grasped by the hand and said shafts being respectively carried by the free ends of said legs. said handle being of resilient material to enable the said rollers to be moved toward and away from each other against the tension of said legs.

5. A device for use in reducing the chin and lifting the contour of the face comprising: a handle adapted to be grasped by the hand of the user, a pair of rollers of similar size, shafts respectively coaxial with said rollers supporting said rollers for rotation about their axes respectively, said shafts being secured at one of their ends to said handle at an angle of from about 30 degrees to 40 degrees to each other with the axis of one shaft intercepting the axis of the other shaft at a point within the roller on said other shaft, said handle projecting from the adjacent sides of said rollers to one side only of said pair of rollers, the re-entrantangle defined by the intersecting axes of said shafts being directed away from said handle, a row of ribs on each of said rollers encircling the same with the ribs of each row extending generally longitudinally of the axis of each roller, said rows being spaced apart a suificient distance to engage the skin at opposite sides of the line of the chin and rela tively close to said line so that rolling of said rollers against the skin at opposite sides of said line and parallel therewith will cause the skin of the face above said line to be moved upwardly away from said line by the roller on said one shaft as the one in engagement with the skin above said line and when said rolling movement of said rollers is from the point of the chin toward the ear on one or the other side of the face with the said re-entrant angle directed generally toward the ear.

No references cited. 

